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Friday, August 2, 2013

Kitty Cat Dress

The much-hyped kitty print dress is done!

To recap, this dress is sort of an experiment to challenge my notions of (not) using quilting cottons for garments. I chose a Michael Miller quilting cotton and paired it with the Marilyn Dress pattern.

I'm very happy with the results, which I think is a direct result of using a high quality quilting cotton with an appropriate pattern.

This type of garment does well with a fabric with some body, so it was a good match. This dress would look wimpy and sad in something soft and flowy like voile.

Pattern notes: this pattern is definitely sized for petite women! I had to reduce my seam allowances to 1/4" at the shoulder seams, underbust seam, and waistline seam to get enough length in the bodice. (No, I didn't make a muslin. I have no patience for muslins in my life since that's all I'm making for my new book right now.)

I used silk organza details at the waistline and at the hem. The organza hem band turned out to be lovely, plus it gives the bottom of the skirt some structure.

What shoes does one wear with a kitty-print dress? I went with pink clogs, but I think I might have gone too casual. This dress would look great with a pump.

This is such a cute dress! How I would love to wear kittens the way you get away with it. Last december I made a skirt for my niece in this same fabric and also added a trim hem :-): http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelesnaaisels/8408721096/

that's the secret to using quilter's cottons in apparel. For the most part, if you stick to the "designer" ones, they're just as good as so-called "apparel" fabric. That's not to say there aren't others that work, too, it's just a rule of thumb...

Very pretty dress! (Do you use Fudge on your hair? How often do you need to refresh the colour?) I'm curious too about the placement of the waistline on this dress - I think if I were to make this for myself, I'd be wanting to pull the waistline down constantly when I was wearing it, so I'd be inclined to lower the waistline about an inch or so. Thoughts?

It's truly adorable and worth waiting for. I just bought some of Heather Ross's new quilting cotton, Briar Rose, which is so beautiful. I think the orange strawberry print would be great in this dress, but I love the cricket in lilac. The thing I like about it is that she has magic mojo pull with her manufacturer, Free Spirit, because her fabric has the weight of quilting cotton but it's so incredibly soft. Always. Thanks for sharing this and now I can feel good about using quilting cotton again for clothing :)

I actually love working with "quilting" cottons for clothing. But as with any other type of fabric, its best used for certain types of clothing. All fabric has certain things it would be good or not so good to be used for... I think I just confused myself...lol... Anyways... I bought the cutest cherry fabric to use for the Marilyn Dress, but my pattern was on back order :( I have been making some things for other people anyhow, and haven't had the time to make it, even if I did have the pattern. And, yes, your hair is very pretty. My hair is black but have been considering putting some blue in it. I love yours pink! And the hair cut is perfect for you.

I always used to be skeptical about using bonkers prints for clothing, but I'm yet to see one that doesn't work. This dress is FABULOUS.As is your hair. The cut goes really well with the colour. (That makes no sense. But hey, I know what I mean...)

So cute! And yes, precisely, the success of quilting cottons as garments is all about fabric quality and application. I like it for quirky full skirts, lolita style with contrasting ruffles and bows, because you can mash as many outlandish prints together as you like and it just looks more amazing, hahaha.

This is amazing. You look great in it. You will turn heads everywhere you go.

If they ever make The Magic School Bus into a Broadway show, I think you should be in charge of designing Ms. Frizzle's dresses. I loved them when I was a child. I totally looked up to that Ms. Frizzle and her bold wardrobe of hers.

Love the dress. I was inspired to search out the Marilyn Dress pattern as I have a few quilting cottons in the stash that are in want of a pattern. Of course 2 other dresses patterns made it into my cart as well!

Very cute. I've been looking at the Marilyn dress and may add it to my cart, eventually.

I sew a lot of clothes out of quilting cotton. I think it's kind of a catch-all term for any plain weave cotton fabrics. I've gotten some that were on the thin, drapey side, almost like lawn or voile and it made a perfect sundress. I've gotten some that were stiffer and really helped give a skirt a nice bell shape. So, like anything else, quality varies and there's something for everyone.